All incoming Freshman to use EnglishCentral in Blended Learning Program

Tokyo, Japan – April 25th, 2017 – EnglishCentral, the leading provider of online English conversation solutions, today announced that Kyoto Sangyo University has adopted EnglishCentral for all incoming freshman, over 6,000 students, taking the compulsory “General English” class starting this year. EnglishCentral will be used as part of blended learning curriculum that combines a traditional textbook with EnglishCentral’s e-learning platform that emphasizes listening, speaking and vocabulary learning through interactive videos.

Kyoto Sangyo University has been testing EnglishCentral in certain classes for several years. A 2016 study at the University comparing TOEFL scores before and after the use of EnglishCentral showed high levels of student engagement and TOEFL test score increases on average of 40 points, and as high as 80 points for the most engaged students, in just 10 weeks. In 2017, Kyoto Sangyo decided to adopt EnglishCentral for all incoming freshmen.

The university’s compulsory “general English” course covers the 4 primary skills of English: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Lectures are generally led by a Japanese faculty members in combination with classes focused on English communication led by native teachers. The challenge of improving students’ speaking and listening ability is that the native teacher classes are held only once per week, giving limited time for students to engage in listening and speaking practice.

The idea behind adopting EnglishCentral broadly across the curriculum is to give students more exposure to conversational English and more opportunities to practice conversational English outside of class. Each lesson in the students’ textbook corresponds with an interactive video lesson, where students can watch and listen to authentic English, easily build their vocabulary as they watch, and then practice speaking what they’ve learned getting feedback on their pronunciation and fluency.

In addition to allowing teachers to build interactive video courses mapped to textbooks adopted in the class, students are able to use EnglishCentral’s diverse library of 10,000+ video lessons, covering over 50 topics, including, for example, interviews with celebrities, politics, technology and more. This library allows students to enjoy English based on their own interests and level, increasing their motivation to seek out more exposure to conversational English.

“EnglishCentral now plays an important role in our curriculum because students have few opportunities to be immersed in English except for one class a week,” according to Kyoto Sangyo University Associate Professor James Holsworth. “Now that students can enjoy the EnglishCentral video courses linked to their textbook, they have many more opportunities to practice outside of class.”

“We are very pleased that EnglishCentral has been widely adopted and used at Kyoto Sangyo University,” said Hirofumi Matsumura, the General Manager of EnglishCentral in Japan. “After testing our platform for several years, we are very happy to work with the university to create a blended curriculum for their general English classes, allowing over 6,000 students to improve their English with the EnglishCentral app and platform.”

Tokyo, Japan – January 31, 2017 – EnglishCentral, the leading provider of online English conversation solutions, announced its 2017 sponsorship of the Japanese soccer team, Albirex Niigata Singapore, the only Japanese professional soccer team based outside of Japan. As part of the sponsorship, EnglishCentral will provide a curriculum of video-based self study materials as well as live 1:1 tutoring online to all members of the team.

The EnglishCentral Online Learning Solution will be available not only to the professional players on the team, but also to the next generation of soccer players coming up through the team’s soccer school. In addition, EnglishCentral and Albirex Niigata Singapore are planning various campaigns to promote cross-cultural communication during matches at Jurong East Stadium and Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore, at team events and on the team’s website. These activities fit into the broader mission of the club to develop the next generation Japanese soccer player to face the challenges of the world by building a strong character, including global communication skills.

Albirex Niigata Singapore is the first team in 20 years’ history of SLeague to achieve in 2016 the quadruple crown, by capturing four titles: “Community Shield”, “League Cup”, “League Regular Championship”, and “Singapore Cup”. As the Albirex Niigata Singapore team seeks to repeat its championship season in 2017, the EnglishCentral logo will be prominently displayed on the team’s uniform.

Shuto Inaba, the team’s midfielder, who has been using the innovative online learning solution since 2016, commented: “I couldn’t speak English at all before joining the team. Learning English through this platform, I gradually came to understand what opposing team members say during the game and finally am able to communicate with referees smoothly. We will defend our championship, learning English with EnglishCentral, as part of our training.”

This is the 4th year EnglishCentral (formerly know as Langrich) will be sponsoring the Albirex team in the Singapore SLeague. EnglishCentral is “happy to be part of helping the next generation of soccer players become comfortable using English, making them ready for the challenges of the soccer world and beyond”, said Hirofumi Matsumura, General Manager of Japan.

About EnglishCentral

EnglishCentral is the most widely adopted online English language conversation platform in the world, changing the way students and professionals across the globe learn to speak English. Adopted by over 400 universities, schools and corporations in over 100 countries, the company delivers interactive, video-based language learning experiences for both self-study and one-on-one tutoring, providing one of the most widely adopted and complete platforms for practicing and mastering English conversation online. Its extensive library of videos lessons, proprietary IntelliSpeech℠ speech assessment technology, and pre-built course modules guarantees results for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. EnglishCentral partnerships include the world’s largest private and online English language schools including Open English (Latin America), UOL(Brazil), NTT Learning (Japan), and Siwon (Korea).

Albirex Niigata Singapore organized with only young Japanese players, joined the SLeague, the professional soccer league in Singapore, in 2004, and won the championship in 2016 season for the first time since its establishment. The team also aims to contribute to developing Singapore soccer culture as well as to promote international experience for its players. As a comprehensive community sports club, Albirex Niigata Singapore is expanding its sports business beyond soccer and is developing into Malaysia, Myanmar, and Spain.

Leveraging New Opportunity for Improving the Speaking Proficiency of English Language Learners as Japan Reforms Its University Entrance Exams

ARLINGTON, MA – December 21, 2016 – EnglishCentral, the leading provider ofonline English conversation solutions, today announced a multi-million strategic investment from Kirihara Shoten K.K., the leading provider of high school textbook products and services for the Japanese education market. As part of the deal, the companies also entered into a distribution agreement to integrate EnglishCentral’s engaging and interactive English language speaking solutions into Kirihara Shoten’s English textbooks adopted as an official government textbook for high schools in Japan, giving Japanese students a new way to improve their speaking proficiency.

In an age of globalization and in anticipation of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan is making radical changes in English-language education, elevating the importance of English speaking. Japan’s education ministry has set new standards for those wishing to enter universities in the 2020 academic year, incorporating speaking on the test for the first time. This policy change has triggered a domino effect whereby high school English curriculum designers are eagerly looking for ways to improve student’s English speaking ability to prepare their students for the changes in the college entrance exam.

“Japanese educators now understand that you can’t learn to actually speak English just from a textbook alone,” Kirihara’s CEO, Satoshi Saito. “With EnglishCentral, we now have a low cost solution to offer speaking practice to high school students. We are excited to open this new door and pave the way towards a new era of English education in Japan. We believe so strongly in this approach, we wanted to become shareholders in EnglishCentral to show our commitment.”

EnglishCentral’s expansion into the high school mark is part of a larger program the Japanese government has to introduce Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into the classroom to enable innovative new technologies in Japanese K-12. During a recent onsite visit to an elementary school in Tokyo, Japan’s Minister of Communications highlighted EnglishCentral’s unique online English conversation solution as an effective method to improve student’s English speaking ability in the elementary school market as well.

“We are pleased to welcome Kirihara as an investor and strategic partner,” said Alan Schwartz, Founder & CEO of EnglishCentral. “Kirihara has a broad portfolio of successful government textbooks and supplementary materials for learning English and a proven track record of creating value in this industry. We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our conversation solutions across Japan, particularly in light of the new speaking proficiency requirements in university entrance exams.”

About Kirihara Shoten

Kirihara Shoten is a leading publisher of educational materials for high school students in Japan. Kirihara publishes textbooks on English Language approved by Japanese government for use over 40% of high-end private high schools in Japan. Some of its best-selling title include Forest for Grammar reference, Next Stage for Grammar and PRO-VISION for high school students. Learn more at http://www.kirihara.co.jp

About EnglishCentralEnglishCentral is the most widely adopted online English language conversation platform in the world, changing the way students and professionals across the globe learn to speak English. Adopted by over 400 universities, schools and corporations in over 100 countries, the company delivers interactive, video-based language learning experiences for both self-study and one-on-one tutoring, providing one of the most widely adopted and complete platforms for practicing and mastering English conversation online. Its extensive library of videos lessons, proprietary IntelliSpeech℠ speech assessment technology, and pre-built course modules guarantees results for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. EnglishCentral partnerships include the world’s largest private and online English language schools including Open English (Latin America), UOL (Brazil), NTT Learning (Japan), and Siwon (Korea). Learn more at www.englishcentral.com.

The Maehara Elementary School in Tokyo is aggressively using new technologies to motivate student to study English. For the class visited by the Minister, the students were using an interactive, video-base version of the English textbook “Hi Friends!”published by the Ministry of Education and adapted by EnglishCentral for use on the Chromebooktablet.

Minister Takaichi commented, “This program is well designed for the school because it helps improve students’ speaking ability, including their pronunciation, as well as makes it easy for teachers to monitor students’ speaking progress at a glance.” The school is also using EnglishCentral’s learning management system (LMS) that allows teachers to monitor student progress and even listen in on their speaking practice sessions.

EnglishCentral’s General Manager for Japan, Hirofumi Matsumura, explains EnglishCentral’s conversational English learning platform to the Minister of Internal Affairs & Communications at a Tokyo Elementary School.

The Minister actually tried the EnglishCentral program herself in the classroom, sitting next to children in the class. She noted that children who practiced their pronunciation operating tablets by themselves seemed to speak English quite fluently using EnglishCentral.

Hirofumi Matsumura, General Managers of EnglishCentral Japan, commented “there is nothing that makes me happier than seeing Japanese children improving their English speaking using the EnglishCentral platform. It’s a true honor for the Minister to have visited this class and tried out EnglishCentral herself. I feel there is a revolution happening in Japan English education, moving from a traditional grammar based curriculum towards a curriculum that emphasizes real listening and speaking skills that students can really use in real life. We are happy to contribute to that revolution with our EnglishCentral platform.”

About EnglishCentral

EnglishCentral is the most widely adopted online English language conversation platform in the world, changing the way students and professionals across the globe learn to speak English. Adopted by over 400 universities, schools and corporations in over 100 countries, the company delivers interactive, video-based language learning experiences for both self-study and one-on-one tutoring, providing one of the most widely adopted and complete platforms for practicing and mastering English conversation online. Its extensive library of videos lessons, proprietary IntelliSpeech℠ speech assessment technology, and pre-built course modules guarantees results for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. EnglishCentral partnerships include the world’s largest private and online English language schools including Open English (Latin America), UOL(Brazil), NTT Learning (Japan), and Meten (China), Learn more at www.englishcentral.com of find us onFacebook/EnglishCentral or Twitter at @EnglishCentral1.

As part of the Global Studies initiative in 2016, over 14,000 students at Chiba University, in over 10 departments, were given access to EnglishCentral. EnglishCentral surveyed the students who used the system and the responses were extremely positive:

71% of Students said they enjoyed studying on EnglishCentral.

92% of Students said they would continue studying on EnglishCentral after the program ended.

76% of Students said the product was easy to use.

93% of Students said they would recommend to other Students.

The service was particularly helpful in getting students to speak outside of class. Engaged students speaking an average of 30 minutes per week outside of class and getting feedback on their speaking pronunciation and fluency. Students particularly enjoyed the game dynamic built into the Speaking Features on EnglishCentral, which lets students speak and get instant feedback on their pronunciation and fluency and then try to improve their score.

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Hello and Welcome! My name is Gordon Bateson.I am the main developer of the EnglishCentral activity module for Moodle 3.x. Thank you for your interest in this software. In order to use this module, you need a Partner ID and security key from EnglishCentral. You can apply for your Partner ID and security key by filling out the form on this page, and clicking the “Send” button.